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Stock market edged higher at the opening, buoyed by Apple, technology shares, the Dow industrials slipped into the red, down 14 points before climbing back to only down 8 points. President Trump said he is considering breaking up big banks which sent the markets lower.

$NYA200R chart below is the percentage of stocks above the 200 DMA and is always a good statistic to follow. It can depict a trend of declining equities which is always troubling, especially when it drops below 60% - 55%. Following a major market correction, the conditions for safe re-entry are when:
a) Daily $OEXA200R rises above 65%
Secondary Bullish Indicators:
a) RSI is POSITIVE (above 50)
b) Slow STO is POSITIVE (black line above red line)
c) MACD is POSITIVE (black line above red line)

Looking at the last three columns (below), the first one (Actual), is what was reported this morning. The second column (Forecast) is what analysts had forecast and the third column is the previous report. Full calendar HERE.

What Is Moving the Markets

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. factory activity slowed in April while consumer spending was unchanged in March and a key inflation measure recorded its first monthly drop since 2001, but economists still expect an interest rate increase in June as the labor market tightens.

BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that economic growth of three percent is achievable in the next two years as the Trump administration sets out to dramatically cut taxes.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - GSO Capital Partners, private equity firm Blackstone Group LP's credit arm, is acquiring more of J. Crew Group Inc's debt, hoping for a profitable trade that could also give the U.S. fashion retailer more time to stave off bankruptcy, people familiar with the matter said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration's push to overhaul tax laws might soon target a loophole used by some financial managers to lower their tax rates, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on Sunday.

In a surprising foreign policy pivot, President Trump told Bloomberg during an Oval Office interview that he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "if the circumstances were right."

"If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg News. "If it's under the, again, under the right circumstances. But I would do that." It was not immediately clear what circumstances Trump considers "right."

The US president added that "most political people would never say that," regarding his willingness to meet with the reclusive Kim, "but I'm telling you under the right circumstances I would meet with him. We have breaking news."

Kim's regime, a source of heightened geopolitical tension over the past month, has repeatedly defied the US and international sanctions with continued development of its nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile program. It would mark the North Korean leader's first summit: as Bloomberg adds, Kim has never met with a foreign leader since taking charge after his father's death in 2011 and hasn't left his isolated country.

In January, Trump vowed that he wouldn't let North Korea develop a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and North Korea has labeled American military moves in the region as acts of "intimidation and blackmail." North Korea has continued to test missiles this year, and last weekend the communist country arrested a third US citizen.

Following comments by Treasury Secretary Mnuch this morning that ultra-long bonds could "absolutely" make sense for America, the Treasury curve has jumped and steepened dramatically...

With 30Y yields back above the 3.00% Maginot Line.

Following the biggest short-squeeze in history... In fact the stunning swing in sentiment in the last 8 weeks (with almost $62 billion in 10Y Treasury shorts dumped) is shocking to see, smashing Speculative Positioning from its shortest ever to its longest in over 9 years...

It is perhaps not entirely surprising that sell-offs are a little more aggressive than normal.

Why were Democrats unable to hide their enthusiasm for the latest Omnibus spending bill proposed by House Republicans? Simple: because, as the Washington Examiner's Philip Klein writes, "Dems basically got everything. It's like they control House, Senate, & WH rather than the other way around."

Dems basically got everything. It's like they control House, Senate, & WH rather than the other way around. https://t.co/BFv540l2Da

— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) May 1, 2017

Some big picture details:

Deal totals just over $1 trillion

Deal allows for an increase of $12.5bn in defense spending, which is 18bn less than Trump requested. However, if Trump makes strides with Isis, an addition 2.5bn will be made available.

The headlines say construction spending was down and below expectations. I consider this a weaker report than last month but the year-over-year growth is about average seen since the end of the Great Recession..

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